Nonprofits look to better days

After coming through one of the toughest years for fundraising in recent memory, nonprofit organizations in San Joaquin County are hopeful the situation may be finally turning around.

Scott Linesburgh

After coming through one of the toughest years for fundraising in recent memory, nonprofit organizations in San Joaquin County are hopeful the situation may be finally turning around.

Since the economic downturn began in 2008, charitable groups have struggled to find ways to make up for lost donations. Andy Prokop, president and CEO of the United Way of San Joaquin County, said that last year, many of the area's charity groups "hit bottom," but already he sees signs of improvement.

"In 2013, discretionary dollars became the least available since 2008," Prokop said. "But at the start of the next (fiscal) year, we started to immediately recover. Based on the numbers, I think we hit bottom and immediately bounced back up. We think the economy has improved, and it's helping us."

Rich Good of the YMCA of San Joaquin County said he's also seen some improvement overall but is cautious in his assessment. He noted he has seen a change in the type of donations his organization receives.

"We have had more larger gifts, and some of our traditional guests have been opting out," Good said. "In the last year we're getting smaller gifts (from individuals), but some of our larger donors have been kind enough to loosen up their checkbooks."

The local nonprofit groups have had to climb out of a deep hole economically. The United Way disburses funds to many nonprofit groups throughout San Joaquin County, and Prokop said the budget for donations was $5 million in 2008. The number was down to 2.9 million last year.

"When the economy got hit, each year we began free falling in revenues, and you can see that there's been quite a drop," Prokop said. "The numbers dropped dramatically in 2010 to a budget of $3 million, and 2012-13 was the single toughest fundraising year.

"People share with us the dollar that they feel is discretionary, and when they don't think they have it, we feel it. That's what we think happened 2008 to last year. It wasn't that people didn't want to help; it's that I think many didn't have anything to give."

Groups have tried to keep up their services the best they can, said Jeanie Miller, executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Manteca and Lathrop, which provides programs for approximately 1,500 youngsters in its area. She said about 75 percent of the children who use the programs come from low- to very-low-income families.

"We're serving more kids than we have in the past, and as a nonprofit, you are always looking for more revenue to serve even more," Miller said. "We're hoping to increase what we've been doing, and we're definitely seeing some improvement."

Miller said the basics of nonprofit group fundraising hasn't changed much over the years, except that there is more time spent researching potential donors than in the past. And nothing beats a good social event when it comes to raising money.

"It seems people are always more willing to spend $45 on a crab feed than write a $45 check," Good said. "People like to gather and help others."

No matter what the method, nonprofit groups will always be dealing with finding ways to deal with the financial realities.

"I think things are improving overall for nonprofits in general," Miller said. "But the fact is that there's more nonprofits out there than ever before. All of us provide these great services, but we're always in need of additional funds to serve the population. That never changes."

Contact reporter Scott Linesburgh at (209) 546-8281 or slinesburgh@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/sportsblog and on Twitter @scottlinesburgh.